Four candidates announce run for county supervisor

Local elections are still six months out, but that hasn’t stopped a crop of candidates for Mono County Supervisor announcing their run for three open seats.

Three Mono County Supervisor seats are up this year in the June 5 election: District 4 (Bridgeport, Walker, Coleville and part of Mammoth and the east side of the county), District 2 (Crowley Lake south and the Tri-Valley) and District 3 June Lake, Lee Vining, Mammoth).

Business owner and Walker area resident Tim Fesko, Bridgeport business owner Bob Peters, business owner and incumbent supervisor Vikki Bauer, and retired Mono County Sheriff deputy and incumbent supervisor Duane “Hap” Hazard will be vying for the three open seats.

Fesko narrowly lost his bid for the District 4 seat to current District 4 Supervisor Tim Hansen in 2010.

“I spent the last two years listening, learning and at times commenting on how our county is being run and the direction it is taking,” Fesko said in an email announcing his candidacy. “While I may be only one person, I feel the support that I have already received and the support still to be added, that I can make a difference in our county.”

Peters, another candidate for District 4, was appointed to the District 4 seat after former Supervisor Bill Reid died early in his term in 2008. Peters served in the seat until Hansen was elected in 2010.

Peters said he has several goals, if he is elected, including stimulating local economies, protecting public safety, supporting the schools and the county’s seniors, making the government more efficient, protecting private property rights and protecting the areas natural and cultural heritage, and spurring a positive relationship between Mammoth Lakes and the county.

Tim Hansen, who currently holds the District 4 seat, is now ineligible to run as a supervisor for that district due to last year’s redistricting, which places Hansen’s hometown of Lee Vining within Supervisor Vikki Bauer’s District 3.

Hansen said he is not intending to run again, after his district boundaries changed so drastically. “I lost the best part of my district when they did that,” he said.

District 3 Supervisor Vikki Bauer said Tuesday that she would run again, stating in an email: “I just decided this weekend that I will seek another term as District 3 supervisor for Mono County. It seems like I just finally know my way around this government stuff and it would be a shame to waste the eight years it took me to learn it!”

As for District 2, Hazard announced he would run in a Jan. 8 email to his constituents. “I have been approached by some asking if I would be considering a run for higher office. I am not, as my loyalty is with Mono County. It appears that decision time for the county office is now upon me. I will be seeking re-election to the seat of Mono County Supervisor District 2.”

Candidates have until March 9 to file to run for office, UNLESS the incumbent in their district has not filed by March 9. In that case, candidates can file to run until March 16.